Bank Leumi (Hebrew ：בנק לאומי， literally means National Bank; Arabic ：بنك لئومي） is an Israeli bank. It was founded in Jaffa on 27 February 1902 as the Anglo-Palestinian Company, a subsidiary of the Jewish Colonial Trust (Jüdische Kolonialbank) Limited: previously founded in London by members of the Zionist Movement to promote industry, construction, agriculture and infrastructure in what would eventually become the land of Israel. Today, Bank Leumi is the largest bank in Israel (by total assets) (as of 2015), with overseas offices in Luxembourg, the United States, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Uruguay, Romania, Jersey and China.

Although Bank Leumi was nationalized in 1981, it is now mostly privately held, with the government as the largest single shareholder, owning 14.8% of the shares (as of June 2006). The other major shareholders are Shlomo Eliyahu and Barnea Investments, each holding 10% of the shares, forming the controlling core of the bank. 60% of the bank's shares are publicly held and traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.

History

In 1923, the first branch of Anglo-Pakistani Bank in Tel Aviv

The predecessor of the Jewish Colonial Trust can be traced back to Herzl's visionary pamphlet "Der Judenstaat" (literally "Jewish State"), detailing his vision of how to create a Jewish state. In this vision, a large institution known as the "Jewish Corporation" was given an important role, which would be "established as a joint-stock company under British jurisdiction, made under British law, and protected by England". In Herzl's vision, this company would control almost all land in Palestine and would transport millions of people there within a few years - all or almost all Jews living in the world. It would then be responsible for all the logistics of resettling them in the new country, placing them in urban and rural settings, and developing agriculture, trade and industry. For the daunting task envisioned for it, Herzl estimates that the company's capital should be about 100 million marks (about £50,000,000 or $200,000,000)

In practice, the Zionist movement is completely unable - both politically and financially - to undertake anything that has nothing to do with it. The actual "Jewish Colonial Trust" - which was actually established in London - was in fact a small-scale model of the company envisioned in The Jewish State: its capital was only a fraction of what the "Jewish Corporation" had envisioned, and its activities were limited to transporting and settling a small number of Jews on any limited land the Zionist movement managed to purchase in Palestine. Even so, the "Colonial Trust" played a key role in the actual implementation of the Zionist project, which ultimately established Israel.

Jewish Colonial Trust

First office in Jaffa

Leumi branch of Historic Bank on Jaffa Road in Jerusalem

Leumi Bank branch in Zichron Yaacov

The Jewish Colonial Trust (German: Jüdische Kolonialbank), the predecessor of what is now Leumi Bank, was founded at the Second Zionist Congress in Basel and incorporated in London in 1899 as a financial instrument for the Zionist organization.: The initial funds raised on page 19 - totalling £395,000 - fell well short of the target of £8 million; Nahum Sokolow wrote in 1919: "The British East Africa Company, which managed 200,000 square miles, initially started with the same £250,000.

Bank of England and Pakistan

The bank's activities in Palestine were carried out by a subsidiary, Bank of England and Pakistan, established in 1902. The bank opened its first branch in Jaffa in 1903 under the management of Zalman David Levontin. Early transactions included land purchases, imports, and the acquisition of concessions. Branches were opened in Jerusalem, Beirut, Hebron, Zefa, Haifa, Tiberiya, and Gaza.

The Anglo-Pakistani Bank provided long-term loans to farmers and to the Ahuzat Bayit Association, which established its first community in Tel Aviv. During the First World War, the Ottoman government declared the British-registered bank a hostile institution and took action to close it and seize its cash.

After the First World War, its business scope expanded. In 1932, the general branch was moved from Jaffa to Jerusalem. During World War II, the Anglo-Pakistani Bank helped finance the establishment of an industry that produced supplies for the British Army.

Bank Leumi

After the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, the bank won a concession to issue new banknotes. In 1950, the bank was renamed Bank Leumi le-Israel (National Bank of Israel). After the establishment of the Bank of Israel in 1954, Leumi Bank became a commercial bank.

In 1971, Leumi Bank acquired the Arab Israel Bank (Ai Bank; founded in 1960), which primarily served Israeli Arab citizens in the north of the country. Ai Bank has 35 branches in northern Israel and the Triangle region.

Leumi Bank was nationalized by the Israeli government in 1983 due to the bank's stock crisis.

In 2007, the bank denied possessing funds deposited by Jews killed in the Holocaust. Despite denying any wrongdoing, in 2011, the bank agreed to pay 130m NIS after a state investigation claimed that 300m NIS was kept in 3,577 dormant accounts. The bank was accused of refusing to cooperate with the investigation by not disclosing information about large amounts of unclaimed funds.

In 2011, Bank Leumi acquired Geneva-based Banque Safdie SA for CHF 143m. Bank Leumi merged Banque Safdie with Bank Leumi Switzerland Ltd in early 2012 to form Leumi Private Bank.

Leumi closed its representative office in Melbourne, Australia in October 2013.

In July 2014, Julius Baer announced that it had acquired the private banking assets of Leumi Bank. Baer has acquired Bank Leumi (Luxembourg) S.A., Leumi's private bank in Luxembourg. Leumi will also transfer the clients of Leumi Private Bank to Baer.

In July 2019, Samer Haj-Yehia was appointed as the chairperson.

Bank Leumi USA, the US subsidiary of the bank, was acquired by Valley National Bank in 2022 for $1.20 billion in cash and stock.

In 2023, Pablo Rosenberg and Gal Toren began serving as hosts of the bank.

Dispute

See also: List of companies operating in West Bank settlements

In October 2017, Danish pension company Sampension banned investments in Leumi and three other companies operating in illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank, including Bank Hapoalim, Israeli telecommunications company Bezeq, and German company Heidelberg Cement.

On February 12, 2020, the United Nations released a database of 112 companies that help advance Israeli settlement activities in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, as well as in the occupied Golan Heights. The settlements are considered illegal under international law.] Bank Leumi was included in the database because it "provides services and utilities that support the maintenance and existence of settlements" and "banking and financial operations that help develop, expand or maintain settlements and their activities" in these occupied territories.

On July 5, 2021, Norway's largest pension fund, KLP, said it would withdraw from Bank Leumi along with 15 other business entities covered in the UN report because of their links to Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Architecture

The main branch of Bank Leumi on Jaffa Road in Jerusalem was built by the German Jewish architect Erich Mendelsohn during the British Mandate and has been declared a landmark.

The branch of Bank Leumi on the corner of Ramban Street in the Rehavia neighbourhood of Jerusalem is a fine example of Bauhaus architecture, designed by the German Jewish architect Leopold Krakauer. It was built in 1935 as a private residence and was renovated in 2007 to restore the original facade.

Global Operations

• Luxemburg - Due to the activities of Bank Leumi, David Kalai, and Nadav Kalai, Bank Leumi entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with the Department of Justice in December 2014, admitting to conspiring to hide assets and income in offshore accounts. The bank paid a $270 million fine and handed over the names of more than 1,500 U.S. account holders.
• Canada - Leumi has representative offices in Toronto and Montreal
• Romania - Bank Leumi Romania S.A.
• Switzerland - Leumi Private Bank
• United Kingdom - Bank Leumi (UK) plc
• Uruguay - Leumi (Latin America) SA
• US - Bank Leumi USA - Acquired by Valley National Bank in 2022